Cans, Climbing and Codes

Well what a week it’s been… Thank goodness for this blog – it helps me to have perspective and see the week as a whole rather than just good days and bad days…

There have most certainly been a few lows this week, M has been SO grumpy! Lots of rudeness to me and D, lots of ‘I’m bored’ comments, followed by huffing and shoulder shrugging at all suggested activities. Humph. J and I are sure she needs more structure but she is unwilling to try.

Anyway, as I said before, it hasn’t been all bad, and here is a round up of all the activities we’ve been up to over the last week:

All 27 Sylvanian Family tin cans have been finished! Wowsers that was a long job. They look brilliant too. M made a start on the cereal boxes which involves making a net using a set square. She got very angry about it and gave up but I live in hope that she’ll want to try again as she seems more willing to have another go these days.

The girls have really got into writing coded messages to each other, and to me. M made one that had tiny symbols and pictures for each letter of the alphabet, which D loved decoding, but mainly we’ve been using a simple number/letter code. It’s great for spelling practice and D wrote out all the letters of the alphabet in order, in capitals, which I’m not sure she’s ever done before.

Games have continued on the iPad. This week’s favourites have been Farmville (for M) and Slice Fractions (for both girls).

M started a new climbing course at White Spider in Tolworth. It’s fortnightly and she gets to experience climbing and bouldering and also has the chance of working towards climbing certifications if she wants to. She managed to climb to the top twice!

D was of course thoroughly bored while all this was going on, although there is a lovely climbing/play castle there too. She made a comment along the lines of “why is it all about M?”. So after I explained that she needs to tell me if she wants to do something particular inside or outside the house, we decided to write a list of all the activities she would like to do. Telly was at no.1 so the next morning she merrily sat down to watch TV… ok…

On Saturday, J got the chance to see Arsenal play Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium and he took M along with him for her first football match! She really enjoyed it and was in awe at the size of the stadium.

Recently, D decided that she would like to learn a language as she was worried she wouldn’t be able to speak to people when she goes to another country – ahhh. I asked if she would like to learn French (as we’re going to France next year) or Spanish like Go Diego Go and she immediately chose Spanish. Phew, I have to admit I’m not a fan of learning French as nobody speaks it except the French – Spanish would at least be a bit more useful! We tried a Duolingo app which had been recommended to me but it didn’t really suit D. She decided to continue learning from Go Diego Go :). She has learnt an awful lot of Spanish from watching it – she knows ‘amigo’ is ‘friend’ and today we had a little Spanish conversation! I was trying to get her upstairs to ‘de-nit’ her hair so I said “vamos” and she said “por favor, no”. Ha!

M made gloop, one of her favourite activities. I suggested it, thinking it was soothe her during one of her angrier moments and I was right! I also slipped in the fact that it is a non-newtonian fluid while she was happily playing…

M is also very interested in Vi Hart on YouTube – if you’ve never heard of her then have a watch, they’re fascinating videos! Whether or not M takes in the maths involved, she loves Vi’s doodles and it inspired her to start doodling her own, humming like Vi Hart while she draws…

M has also started to like classical music – I’m still sticking it on in the background while they play and it seems to be sinking in. The other day I put Peter and the Wolf on and M was talking about the different instruments being played and describing the characters. I couldn’t believe it! When I first started HE I wondered how on earth children would learn this stuff without it being taught to them, but it seems they just do, you just have to provide them with the opportunity to experience it.

The girls decided today that they were going to make cards for their cousin, M. While they were working I decided to read the latest Aquila magazine to them, fully expecting to be booed off at any moment. But they actually listened to me talking about Pompeii, volcanoes, tectonic plates and the Ring of Fire! So after they had finished I got them going on making a Pompeii inspired name plaque which they really enjoyed…